Aussies abroad: Players push for Socceroos selection

There were plenty of players in action in the UK and Europe while the much hyped Chinese Super League kicked off its season over the weekend. See the wrap of how our boys fared in clubland as our overseas stars push for a spot in the Caltex Socceroos' squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers on home soil.

Mark Schwarzer and Adam Federici were on the bench as Leicester City and Bournemouth both claimed important Premier League wins over Watford and Newcastle respectively.

Massimo Luongo was in action for Queens Park Rangers in the Championship as they went down 2-0 away to Milton Keynes Dons.

Bailey Wright featured for Preston North End as they played out a goalless stalemate with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Bradden Inman and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff locked horns in League One as Crewe Alexandra and Burton Albion settled for a 1-1 draw.

James Meredith’s Bradford City dropped a place to ninth as they were held to a 0-0 result on their travels to Bury FC.

Alex Cisak was in goals for Leyton Orient as they were beaten 1-0 by Luton Town in League Two.

Jackson Irvine’s Ross County was knocked out of Scotland’s FA Cup after going down 3-2 in their quarter-final clash against Dundee United.

Scott McDonald played a full match for Motherwell in the league as they overcame Hamilton Academical 1-0 on their travels.

EUROPE

Robbie Kruse started up front for Bayer Leverkusen as they came back from three goals down to earn a share of the spoils in injury time against FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga.

Josh Brillante was a second half substitute as Calcio Como claimed a 1-1 result against Lattina Calcio in Italy’s Serie B.

Aziz Behich celebrated his contract extension with Bursaspor by helping his side to three points with a 1-0 win over Rizespor in Turkey.

Tomislav Mrčela got through 90 minutes as Lokomotiva Zagreb moved up to fourth in Croatia’s Prva Liga with a 3-1 away win over NK Zagreb.

Nikita Rukavytsya was on the scoresheet in Israel as Beitar Jerusalem beat Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-0 on the final matchday to finish the Ligat ha’Al season in third.

Former Melbourne City striker David Williams played the majority of Haladas’ 2-1 loss to Videoton in Hungary.

Former Glory defender Antony Golec is also seeing game time at his new home helping FC Sheriff to a 1-0 victory over Zaria Balti in Moldova.

ASIA

Trent Sainsbury made his starting debut for Jiangsu Suning as they earned a 3-0 win over Shandong Luneng Taishan on the opening matchday of the Chinese Super League.

Ryan McGowan came off the bench for Henan Jianye as they also claimed three points on the opening weekend courtesy of a 1-0 win over Shanghai Dongya.

Apostolos Giannou was a second half substitute for Guangzhou R&F but couldn’t help turn around their 2-1 deficit to Hebei Huaxia Xingfu.

Mark Milligan played the duration as his Baniyas SC outfit were soundly beaten 3-0 by Al Dhafra in the UAE’s Arabian Gulf League.

Brett Holman was subbed four minutes from time as Emirates Club picked up a point against Al Wasl following their 1-1 result.

Former A-League trio Taylor Regan, Joel Chianese and Andrew Nabbout all started for Negeri Sembilan in their Cup quarter-final in Malaysia. Nabbout scored what proved to be a consolation goal as they were beaten 4-1 by Johor Darul Ta’zim.